[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 797 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 797

     To establish and implement a multi-year Legal Gold and Mining 
 Partnership Strategy to reduce the negative environmental and social 
impacts of illicit gold mining in the Western Hemisphere, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 14, 2023

Mr. Rubio (for himself and Mr. Menendez) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To establish and implement a multi-year Legal Gold and Mining 
 Partnership Strategy to reduce the negative environmental and social 
impacts of illicit gold mining in the Western Hemisphere, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``United States Legal Gold and Mining 
Partnership Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The illicit mining, trafficking, and commercialization 
        of gold in the Western Hemisphere--
                    (A) negatively affects the region's economic and 
                social dynamics;
                    (B) strengthens transnational criminal 
                organizations and other international illicit actors; 
                and
                    (C) has a deleterious impact on the environment and 
                food security.
            (2) A lack of economic opportunities and the weak rule of 
        law promote illicit activities, such as illicit gold mining, 
        which increases the vulnerability of individuals in mining 
        areas, including indigenous communities, who have been 
        subjected to trafficking in persons, other human rights abuses, 
        and population displacement in relation to mining activity, 
        particularly in the artisanal and small-scale mining sector.
            (3) Illicit gold mining in Latin America often involves and 
        benefits transnational criminal organizations, drug trafficking 
        organizations, terrorist groups, and other illegal armed groups 
        that extort miners and enter into illicit partnerships with 
        them in order to gain revenue from the illicit activity.
            (4) Illicit gold supply chains are international in nature 
        and frequently involve--
                    (A) the smuggling of gold and supplies, such as 
                mercury;
                    (B) trade-based money laundering; and
                    (C) other cross-border flows of illicit assets.
            (5) In Latin America, mineral traders and exporters, local 
        processors, and shell companies linked to transnational 
        criminal networks and illegally armed groups all play a key 
        role in the trafficking, laundering, and commercialization of 
        illicit gold from the region.
            (6) According to a report on illegally mined Gold in Latin 
        America by the Global Initiative Against Transnational 
        Organized Crime--
                    (A) more than 70 percent of the gold mined in 
                several Latin American countries, such as Colombia, 
                Ecuador, and Peru, is mined through illicit means; and
                    (B) about 80 percent of the gold mined in Venezuela 
                is mined through illicit means and a large percentage 
                of such gold is sold--
                            (i) to the state mining company, Minerven, 
                        a gold processor that has been designated by 
                        the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the 
                        Department of the Treasury, pursuant to 
                        Executive Order 13850, and is operated by the 
                        Maduro regime; or
                            (ii) through other trafficking and 
                        commercialization networks from which the 
                        Maduro regime benefits financially.
            (7) Illegal armed groups and foreign terrorist 
        organizations, such as the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional 
        (National Liberation Army--ELN), work with transnational 
        criminal organizations in Venezuela that participate in the 
        illicit mining, trafficking, and commercialization of gold.
            (8) Transnational criminal organizations based in 
        Venezuela, such as El Tren de Aragua, have expanded their role 
        in the illicit mining, trafficking, and commercialization of 
        gold to increase their criminal profits.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
                Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
                of Representatives.
            (2) Artisanal and small-scale mining; asm.--The terms 
        ``artisanal and small-scale mining'' and ``ASM'' refer to a 
        form of mining common in the developing world that--
                    (A) typically employs rudimentary, simple, and low-
                cost extractive technologies and manual labor-intensive 
                techniques;
                    (B) is frequently subject to limited regulation; 
                and
                    (C) often features harsh and dangerous working 
                conditions.
            (3) Illicit actors.--The term ``illicit actors'' includes--
                    (A) any person included on any list of--
                            (i) United States-designated foreign 
                        terrorist organizations;
                            (ii) specially designated global terrorists 
                        (as defined in section 594.310 of title 31, 
                        Code of Federal Regulations);
                            (iii) significant foreign narcotics 
                        traffickers (as defined in section 808 of the 
                        Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (21 
                        U.S.C. 1907); or
                            (iv) blocked persons, as maintained by the 
                        Office of Foreign Assets Control of the 
                        Department of the Treasury; and
                    (B) drug trafficking organizations.
            (4) Key stakeholders.--The term ``key stakeholders'' means 
        private sector organizations, industry representatives, and 
        civil society representatives that are committed to the 
        implementation of the Legal Gold and Mining Partnership 
        Strategy.
            (5) Legal gold and mining partnership strategy; strategy.--
        The terms ``Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Strategy'' and 
        ``Strategy'' mean the strategy developed pursuant to section 4.
            (6) Relevant federal departments and agencies.--The term 
        ``relevant Federal departments and agencies'' means--
                    (A) the Department of State;
                    (B) the Department of the Treasury;
                    (C) the Department of Homeland Security, including 
                U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration 
                and Customs Enforcement;
                    (D) the Department of Justice, including the 
                Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug 
                Enforcement Administration;
                    (E) the Department of the Interior;
                    (F) the United States Agency for International 
                Development; and
                    (G) other Federal agencies designated by the 
                President.

SEC. 4. LEGAL GOLD AND MINING PARTNERSHIP STRATEGY.

    (a) Strategy Required.--The Secretary of State, in coordination 
with the heads of relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall 
develop a comprehensive, multi-year strategy, which shall be known as 
the Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Strategy (referred to in this 
section as the ``Strategy''), to combat illicit gold mining in the 
Western Hemisphere.
    (b) Elements.--The Strategy shall include policies, programs, and 
initiatives--
            (1) to interrupt the linkages between ASM and illicit 
        actors that profit from ASM in the Western Hemisphere;
            (2) to deter ASM in environmentally protected areas, such 
        as national parks and conservation zones, to prevent mining-
        related contamination of critical natural resources, such as 
        water resources, soil, tropical forests, and other flora and 
        fauna, and aerosol contamination linked to detrimental health 
        impacts;
            (3) to counter the financing and enrichment of actors 
        involved in the illicit mining, trafficking, and 
        commercialization of gold, and the abetting of their activities 
        by--
                    (A) promoting the exercise of due diligence and the 
                use of responsible sourcing methods in the purchase and 
                trade of ASM;
                    (B) preventing and prohibiting foreign persons who 
                control commodity trading chains linked to illicit 
                actors from enjoying the benefits of access to the 
                territory, markets or financial system of the United 
                States, and halting any such ongoing activity by such 
                foreign persons; and
                    (C) supporting the capacity of financial 
                intelligence units, customs agencies, and other 
                government institutions focused on anti-money 
                laundering initiatives and combating the financing of 
                criminal activities and terrorism to exercise oversight 
                consistent with the threats posed by illicit gold 
                mining;
            (4) to build the capacity of foreign civilian law 
        enforcement institutions in the Western Hemisphere to 
        effectively counter--
                    (A) linkages between illicit gold mining, illicit 
                actors, money laundering, and other financial crimes, 
                including trade-based money laundering;
                    (B) linkages between illicit gold mining, illicit 
                actors, trafficking in persons, and forced or coerced 
                labor, including sex work and child labor;
                    (C) the cross-border trafficking of illicit gold, 
                and the mercury, cyanide, explosives, and other 
                hazardous materials used in illicit gold mining; and
                    (D) surveillance and investigation of illicit and 
                related activities that are related to or are 
                indicators of illicit gold mining activities;
            (5) to ensure the successful implementation of the existing 
        Memoranda of Understanding signed with the Governments of Peru 
        and of Colombia in 2017 and 2018, respectively, to expand 
        bilateral cooperation to combat illicit gold mining;
            (6) to work with governments in the Western Hemisphere, 
        bolster the effectiveness of anti-money laundering efforts to 
        combat the financing of illicit actors in Latin America and the 
        Caribbean and counter the laundering of proceeds related to 
        illicit gold mining by--
                    (A) fostering international and regional 
                cooperation and facilitating intelligence sharing, as 
                appropriate, to identify and disrupt financial flows 
                related to the illicit gold mining, trafficking, and 
                commercialization of gold and other minerals and 
                illicit metals; and
                    (B) supporting the formulation of strategies to 
                ensure the compliance of reporting institutions 
                involved in the mining sector and to promote 
                transparency in mining-sector transactions;
            (7) to support foreign government efforts--
                    (A) to increase regulations of the ASM sector;
                    (B) to facilitate licensing and formalization 
                processes for ASM miners;
                    (C) to create and implement environmental 
                safeguards to reduce the negative environmental impact 
                of mining on sensitive ecosystems; and
                    (D) to develop mechanisms to support regulated 
                cultural artisanal mining and artisanal mining as a job 
                growth area;
            (8) to engage the mining industry to encourage the building 
        of technical expertise in best practices, environmental 
        safeguards, and access to new technologies;
            (9) to support the establishment of gold commodity supply 
        chain due diligence, responsible sourcing, tracing and tracking 
        capacities, and standards-compliant commodity certification 
        systems in countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, 
        including efforts recommended in the OECD Due Diligence 
        Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from 
        Conflict-Affected and High Risk Areas, Third Edition (2016);
            (10) to reduce the negative environmental impacts of ASM, 
        particularly--
                    (A) the use of mercury in preliminary refining;
                    (B) the destruction of tropical forests;
                    (C) the construction of illegal and unregulated 
                dams and the resulting valley floods;
                    (D) the pollution of water resources and soil; and
                    (E) the release of dust, which can contain toxic 
                chemicals and heavy metals that can cause severe health 
                problems;
            (11) to aid and encourage ASM miners--
                    (A) to formalize their business activities, 
                including through skills training, technical and 
                business assistance, and access to financing, loans, 
                and credit;
                    (B) to utilize environmentally safe and sustainable 
                mining practices, including by scaling up the use of 
                mercury-free gold refining technologies, and mining 
                methods and technologies that do not result in 
                deforestation, forest destruction, air pollution, water 
                and soil-contamination, and other negative 
                environmental impacts associated with ASM;
                    (C) to reduce the costs associated with 
                formalization and compliance with mining regulations;
                    (D) to fully break away from the influence of 
                illicit actors who leverage the control of territory 
                and use violence to extort miners and push them into 
                illicit arrangements;
                    (E) to adopt and utilize environmentally safe and 
                sustainable mining practices, including--
                            (i) mercury-free gold refining 
                        technologies; and
                            (ii) extractive techniques that do not 
                        result in--
                                    (I) forest clearance and water 
                                contamination; or
                                    (II) the release of dust or 
                                uncontrolled tailings containing toxic 
                                chemicals;
                    (F) to pursue alternative livelihoods outside the 
                mining sector; and
                    (G) to fully access public social services in ASM-
                dependent communities;
            (12) to support and encourage socioeconomic development 
        programs, law enforcement capacity-building programs, and 
        support for relevant international initiatives, including by 
        providing assistance to achieve such ends by implementing the 
        Strategy; and
            (13) to promote responsible sourcing and due diligence at 
        all levels of gold supply chains.
    (c) Challenges Assessed.--The Strategy shall include an assessment 
of the challenges posed by, and policy recommendations to address--
            (1) linkages between ASM sector production and trade, 
        particularly relating to gold, to the activities of illicit 
        actors, including linkages that help to finance or enrich such 
        illicit actors or abet their activities;
            (2) linkages between illicit or grey market trade, and 
        markets in gold and other metals or minerals and legal trade 
        and commerce in such commodities, notably with respect to 
        activities that abet the entry of such commodities into legal 
        commerce, including--
                    (A) illicit cross-border trafficking, including 
                with respect to goods, persons and illegal narcotics;
                    (B) money-laundering;
                    (C) the financing of illicit actors or their 
                activities; and
                    (D) the extralegal entry into the United States 
                of--
                            (i) metals or minerals, whether of legal 
                        foreign origin or not; and
                            (ii) the proceeds of such metals or 
                        minerals;
            (3) linkages between the illicit mining, trafficking, and 
        commercialization of gold, diamonds, and precious metals and 
        stones, and the financial and political activities of the 
        regime of Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela;
            (4) factors that--
                    (A) produce linkages between ASM miners and illicit 
                actors, prompting some ASM miners to utilize mining 
                practices that are environmentally damaging and 
                unsustainable, notably mining or related ore processing 
                practices that--
                            (i) involve the use of elemental mercury; 
                        or
                            (ii) result in labor, health, 
                        environmental, and safety code infractions and 
                        workplace hazards; and
                    (B) lead some ASM miners to operate in the 
                extralegal or poorly regulated informal sector, and 
                often prevent such miners from improving the 
                socioeconomic status of themselves and their families 
                and communities, or hinder their ability to formalize 
                their operations, enhance their technical and business 
                capacities, and access finance of fair market prices 
                for their output;
            (5) mining-related trafficking in persons and forced or 
        coerced labor, including sex work and child labor; and
            (6) the use of elemental mercury and cyanide in ASM 
        operations, including the technical aims and scope of such 
        usage and its impact on human health and the environment, 
        including flora, fauna, water resources, soil, and air quality.
    (d) Foreign Assistance.--The Strategy shall describe--
            (1) existing foreign assistance programs that address 
        elements of the Strategy; and
            (2) additional foreign assistance resources needed to fully 
        implement the Strategy.
    (e) Submission.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the President shall submit the Strategy to the 
appropriate congressional committees.
    (f) Briefing.--Not later than 180 days after submission of the 
Strategy, and semiannually thereafter for the following 3 years, the 
Secretary of State, or the Secretary's designee, shall provide a 
briefing to the appropriate congressional committees regarding the 
implementation of the strategy, including efforts to leverage 
international support and develop a public-private partnership to build 
responsible gold value chains with other governments.

SEC. 5. CLASSIFIED BRIEFING ON ILLICIT GOLD MINING IN VENEZUELA.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of State, or the Secretary's designee, in coordination 
with the Director of National Intelligence, shall provide a classified 
briefing to the appropriate congressional committees, the Select 
Committee on Intelligence of the Senate, and the Permanent Select 
Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives that 
describes--
            (1) the activities related to illicit gold mining, 
        including the illicit mining, trafficking, and 
        commercialization of gold, inside Venezuelan territory carried 
        out by illicit actors, including defectors from the 
        Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and members of 
        the National Liberation Army (ELN); and
            (2) Venezuela's illicit gold trade with foreign 
        governments, including the Government of the Republic of Turkey 
        and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

SEC. 6. INVESTIGATION OF THE ILLICIT GOLD TRADE IN VENEZUELA.

    The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of the 
Treasury, the Attorney General, and allied and partner governments in 
the Western Hemisphere, shall--
            (1) lead a coordinated international effort to carry out 
        financial investigations to identify and track assets taken 
        from the people and institutions in Venezuela that are linked 
        to money laundering and illicit activities, including mining-
        related activities, by sharing financial investigations 
        intelligence, as appropriate and as permitted by law; and
            (2) provide technical assistance to help eligible 
        governments in Latin America establish legislative and 
        regulatory frameworks capable of imposing and effectively 
        implementing targeted sanctions on--
                    (A) officials of the Maduro regime who are directly 
                engaged in the illicit mining, trafficking, and 
                commercialization of gold; and
                    (B) foreign persons engaged in the laundering of 
                illicit gold assets linked to designated terrorist and 
                drug trafficking organizations.

SEC. 7. LEVERAGING INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT.

    In implementing the Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Strategy 
pursuant to section 4, the President should direct United States 
representatives accredited to relevant multilateral institutions and 
development banks and United States ambassadors in the Western 
Hemisphere to use the influence of the United States to foster 
international cooperation to achieve the objectives of this Act, 
including--
            (1) marshaling resources and political support; and
            (2) encouraging the development of policies and 
        consultation with key stakeholders to accomplish such 
        objectives and provisions.

SEC. 8. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP TO BUILD RESPONSIBLE GOLD VALUE 
              CHAINS.

    (a) Best Practices.--The Administrator of the United States Agency 
for International Development (referred to in this section as the 
``Administrator''), in coordination with the Governments of Colombia, 
of Ecuador, and of Peru, and with other democratically-elected 
governments in the region, shall consult with the Government of 
Switzerland regarding best practices developed through the Swiss Better 
Gold Initiative, a public-private partnership that aims to improve 
transparency and traceability in the international gold trade.
    (b) In General.--The Administrator shall coordinate with the 
Governments of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and other democratically-
elected governments in the region determined by the Administrator to 
establish a public-private partnership to advance the best practices 
identified in subsection (a), including supporting programming in 
participating countries that will--
            (1) support formalization and compliance with appropriate 
        environmental and labor standards in ASM gold mining;
            (2) increase access to financing for ASM gold miners who 
        are taking significant steps to formalize their operations and 
        comply with labor and environmental standards;
            (3) enhance the traceability and support the establishment 
        of a certification process for ASM gold;
            (4) support a public relations campaign to promote 
        responsibly-sourced gold;
            (5) facilitate contact between vendors of responsibly-
        sourced gold and United States companies; and
            (6) promote policies and practices in participating 
        countries that are conducive to the formalization of ASM gold 
        mining and promoting adherence of ASM to internationally-
        recognized best practices and standards.
    (c) Meeting.--The Secretary of State or the Administrator, without 
delegation and in coordination with the governments of participating 
countries, should--
            (1) host a meeting with senior representatives of the 
        private sector and international governmental and 
        nongovernmental partners; and
            (2) make commitments to improve due diligence and increase 
        the responsible sourcing of gold.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated to the Department of State 
$10,000,000 to implement the Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Strategy 
developed pursuant to section 4.
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